Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has revised its forecast for China – now estimating it will add 54 GW of new capacity in 2017. In July, in its mid Q2 outlook, it had predicted 29 GW of new capacity. “The amount of rooftop solar plants and projects aimed at easing poverty were more than expected and developers rushed to build some ground-mounted solar projects before they have been allocated subsidies,” said Yvonne Liu, a BNEF analyst in Beijing. This additional capacity would likely surpass all the solar energy generated in Japan, BNEF stated.

In the first 9 months of 2017, the country had added around 42 GW of new solar power capacity taking its cumulative to 120 GW, as per Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory Co. Ltd. (AECEA). The consultancy has recently updated its numbers and now predicts China to add 50 GW of new PV capacity in 2017. German consultancy Apricum just came out with its Q3 market report, estimating that China could install between 50 and 60 GW. European solar lobby association SolarPower Europe’s market intelligence recently upped its 2017 China estimate to at least 52 GW.

A recent report from the China National Renewable Energy Center (CNREC), has suggested that the government must take up the 2020 PV target to 200 GW instead of the current 110 GW, which should have been surpassed by now.